Black Roses
by Abulic Decisions
Summary: [Complete] Sixth Years Harry and Draco and a third year Hufflepuff find themselves in an interesting sort of triangle. Will anything work out for any of them?
1. A New Start

Chapter One – A New Start

            "Shit!" the waitress yelled as she watched yet another mug of butterbeer fall off her tray toward the floor.  She had no idea why she was unbalanced.  The restaurant was practically empty, and the mug of butterbeer was the only thing on her tray.  Although it was not his order, this mug was headed right for the lap of Professor Snape.

            "SELENA!" Snape screamed.  "Why can't your waitresses learn how to walk and balance a tray at the same time?"

            Luckily, Selena didn't have customers sitting at the bar at the time.  She came running over to her brother's table and burst out laughing.

"What, you don't like having a wet lap?  You know it's going to be the latest craze, especially when everyone back at the school finds out what happened."

            Snape just mumbled something to himself, even though he knew his twin knew exactly what he was saying.  Quickly, he gathered his things and ran out the door, presumably headed back to his office to change his pants.  After he was gone, Selena cleaned up the shattered glass and remnants of the spilled butterbeer while the waitress ran back to the bar to retrieve a new drink to replace the one that had fallen.  Although the waitress was flustered by the accident, technically it wasn't her fault.  She had just recently been hired at the new restaurant, The Great Hall, which had opened its doors in the center of Hogsmeade.  The Great Hall had opened right before the new semester had started in hopes that the students would help populate the tables during study breaks from school.

            Word had spread fast among the wizarding community about the new place, which identically resembled Hogwart's from top to bottom.  Selena had just finished wiping up the spill when she looked up to see Dumbledore approaching the empty bar.  He glanced around the room, saw her, and smiled.

"Hello, Selena.  I have heard much about this place, and thought I should give it a try."

            "I'm glad you stopped by, but you know I knew you were coming," Selena replied almost jokingly.

            "Ah, yes, how could I have forgotten your powers," the headmaster replied.

            "So, would you like to stay and have a drink?  Sex on the broom perhaps, or maybe just a traditional butterbeer?"

            "I think I'll stay traditional, just for old times sake.  Anyway, the semester is beginning anew again today, and I must get back to the school in order to greet the students at dinner.  Would you like to join me?"

            As Selena poured the elder wizard a drink, she replied, "Well, I don't think the boss would like it too much if I left early.  Since the place just opened, we're pretty busy.  You just came at an off-hour, that's why the place is sort of empty.  I doubt I can, but I will definitely try to honor your invitation and show up tonight for the dinner."  Since the time was approaching Happy Hour, business had started picking up again, and Selena had to leave Dumbledore in order to serve all the thirsty customers at her bar.

            Since Dumbledore still had some time to kill before he was needed back at Hogwart's, he decided to wander around the restaurant to see just how similar it was to his beloved school.  "Wow," he thought to himself as he walked, "This place is amazing.  I wonder how they did it."  The old wizard finished his circle of the restaurant, ending up back at the bar, with Selena.

            "So, how do you like the place, Headmaster?" Selena asked.

            "I love it.  In fact, I was thinking of doing some free advertising at the dinner tonight, to let all the students know this place is here."

            "Hey, that sounds like a great idea!  I'm sure the boss would love it.  The more business the merrier, as he always says."

            "Oh my, look at the time!" the wizard noted, "I need to get back to the school now!  The dinner is about to start, and it would look awfully strange if I wasn't there to welcome everyone back."  With that, Dumbledore quickly said good-bye and apparated, appearing immediately in front of the gates of the school.  As fast as he could, he made his way to the Great Hall of the school.  He strode through the doors and wound his way around all the returning students, finally stopping at his place at the faculty table, right in the center of everything that was going on.

            Professor McGonagall was just rising to begin the Sorting Ceremony as the old wizard whisked past her chair.

            "Albus, I thought you'd never show up," she whispered, "What kept you so long?"

            "Just proceed with the Ceremony.  I will fill you in later.  Do not worry, it is nothing bad, I assure you," Dumbledore replied.

            Harry, Ron, and Hermione sat at the Gryffindor table, trying to wait patiently for all the new first-years to be sorted.  Everyone was starving, because the snacks on the train ride just did nothing for anyone's hunger.

            "Bloody hell, why is this taking so long," Ron wondered aloud.

            "I don't know," Hermione countered, "But do you remember our first year, and how we were all so nervous to be sorted?  I love watching all of their faces as the hat gets placed on their heads."

            The whole group watched in amusement as all the little first years were placed into their houses for the next 7 years.  Much to their dismay, they thought many of the new Slytherins reminded them of Draco and many of the people in their class.  Unfortunately, the list of new students seemed to be two miles long.  Neither of his friends noticed that Harry was sitting very quietly, staring intently at Dumbledore.  He could tell that an amazing announcement was about to be made, but he wasn't sure what kind of news would be shared in the commencement speech.


	2. Unexpected Travels

Chapter 2 – Unexpected Travels

            Finally, after many eternities, Zurkoska, Michael, was placed in Hufflepuff, and the Great Hall resounded in applause as the Sorting Ceremony came to an end.  Dumbledore took one last sip of water and stood at his seat to begin the welcoming address.

            "Welcome to another year at Hogwarts!" the wizard began.  Immediately, the hall echoed in large amounts of volume, from everyone deciding to cheer at the same time.  "I have a feeling this year will hold many extraordinary events, just as the last 5 have been some of our strangest ever."  As he said this, he caught Harry's eye, and the two seemed to be sharing the same mind as they recollected many of the strange events of Harry's years at Hogwart's.  Finally, Dumbledore realized that he had gone off on a tangent and quickly regained his focus on reviewing the rules of the school and informing the students of places in the school grounds that were off-limits.  "And now, for my final announcement of the night!  As many of you know, Hogsmeade is a local wizarding town where students may spend their time on occasion.  I have received special information that a new restaurant has just opened a few days ago in town.  It is called The Great Hall, and is almost an exact replica of our hall that you are all sitting in right now."  A murmur of excitement arose in the crowd.  "Yes, I have already been there, and in fact know many of the people who work there.  Whenever you are in Hogsmeade, feel free to dine there.  You may be surprised to see just how similar the restaurant is to the school you know and love.  That said, since I can see just how famished you all are, let the feast begin."  With a wave of his hand, row after row of delicious food appeared, rising up through the table, and the room erupted in a blast of hungry chatter between all the students and faculty.

            "Did you hear that, Harry?  Finally something new to do around here!  And we won't even have to use the invisibility cloak for this one!" Ron shouted with a mouthful of chicken across the table at his best friend.

            "Don't shout Ron, I heard you," Harry replied.  "It sounds like great fun."

            "Do you think the restaurant has house elves to serve the food and work in the kitchen?" Hermione asked innocently.  "I might have to investigate that, just to make sure they're all taken care of properly."  Harry and Ron both shot her a look of death at that last comment.  After staring back at them for a few seconds, she burst out laughing.  "You thought I was serious, didn't you?  I was just kidding.  I know that SPEW crusade I went on was pointless, now that I look back on it.  I suppose we should add that to our book, if we ever end up writing one."

            "I doubt they use house elves at The Great Hall, but I'm sure going to go there," Harry said to his two friends.  "It sounds like a great place to explore.  We'll have to go there as soon as possible.  Maybe we can find some new adventures there while we eat."

            The first weekend after classes had started had been declared a "Hogsmeade Weekend" by all of the faculty at Hogwart's.  For the first time in a very long time, none of the teachers had given any homework, including Professor Snape.  There was a general feeling of excitement bubbling through the school.  Nobody could wait to go to Hogsmeade.

            "What if we snuck out and went to Hogsmeade early?" Harry asked Ron after their Divination class.  "I'm sure we could find a room or two at a tavern there, or maybe Sirius is still around.  Maybe we could hang with him for the night."

            "I don't even think we would have to sneak, Harry," Ron countered.  "All the teachers here know by now that we get our noses into anything new that ever comes around here.  If we got stopped, we would just have to tell whoever stopped us exactly what we were doing, or even make something up, and I'm sure they'd let us continue on.  It's not that big a deal anyway.  It's almost expected of us," he finished with a mischievous grin.

            They had already packed their things for a weekend away and impatiently waited for Hermione to return from her arithmancy class so they could tell her of their latest adventure.  She finally entered the Gryffindor common room a little after four o'clock and practically got tackled by two energetic, excited boys.

            "What are you doing?  Get off me!" Hermione shouted in their faces.  "You smell like a combination of rotten onions and rose petals!"

            "We're leaving early for Hogsmeade, to get the first glimpse of The Great Hall," Ron said as he got up off the floor.  "Do you want to come with us?"

            "Of course!  When have I ever skipped out on an adventure?"

            "I can't remember," said Harry, getting annoyed that they hadn't left yet.  "Hurry up and pack your things, Hermione.  The sooner we leave, the better."

            Hermione quickly gathered her things and practically tripped up the stairs to her room, she was moving so fast.  It hadn't seemed longer than five minutes that Hermione had taken to gather her things for a little weekend jaunt.  Finally, everyone was ready to go.

            Luckily, for some strange reason, there were hardly any other students in the halls.  Probably because that Friday afternoon was so beautiful everyone was spending it outside.  Harry had debated showing the secret passage to Hogsmeade to Ron and Hermione, but after a few seconds of thought decided that the secret passage had better remain a secret, in case of an emergency.  Their things had been packed in backpacks, so nothing looked out of the ordinary as they made their way toward the grassy yard.  None of the other students thought anything of it; they all assumed the three were just going to visit Hagrid, and none of the teachers were around to harass them about what they were going to do.

            The boys had made plans with Hagrid the night before, so they could leave from Hagrid's yard and fly to Hogsmeade.  After running across the huge yard, the three sixth years burst into Hagrid's hut in total excitement of embarking on their latest adventure.

            "Hagrid," they all shouted, "We're ready to go!  Where are you?"

            "Oh?  Who is that barging into my house?" Hagrid asked jokingly.  "It must be my three little explorers!"

            "We don't mean to rush you, Hagrid, but we'd like to leave as soon as possible.  We just don't want to get caught on our way," Harry explained.

            "Well then, by all means, go right ahead!  The brooms are in the back, leaning against the garden fence.  I just put them out there for you."

            "Thank you," they all said as they filed out into the yard and hopped on their brooms.  Finally, they were on their way to Hogsmeade!

            The afternoon sun was warm on their faces as they soared into the clouds.  Winds were calm, and the weather was absolutely perfect for flying.  It was so nice that they were actually able to hold conversation while flying.

            "What do you think this restaurant will be like?  Will it really be exactly like our hall?" Ron asked.

            "I would certainly think so," Hermione countered.  "Dumbledore himself even said how similar the two places were, and he wouldn't lie about something like that."

            "Do you think anyone else decided to go to Hogsmeade early besides us?" Harry pondered aloud.  Both of the others knew he was thinking about Draco.

            "I highly doubt he'd be able to get away without getting caught," Hermione replied.  "He's not very good at sneaking around, and he doesn't even have an invisibility cloak to practice with."

            "True, but sometimes I think that little snot tries to ruin me on purpose.  Like it's his secret hidden quest in life or something like that.  I'm not afraid of him, but he makes me worry a lot more now that we're older and know so much more."

            "Don't worry about him, Harry.  You've taken out your worst foe numerous times, and compared to him, Draco is a flea.  Don't let him ruin your weekend."

            "I suppose you're right, Hermione.  I just hope nothing strange happens.  I just want to have a normal, relaxing weekend for once in my life."

            After flying in silence for a few more minutes, Ron suddenly whispered, "Wow!  Just look at that place!"  The trio had finally reached Hogsmeade.  Although the restaurant was only one story high, as a whole, it looked like a tiny castle, just like Hogwart's, except smaller.  The kids landed in a little valley right outside Hogsmeade and proceeded to walk into the wizarding town.

            There was no need to worry about being seen as they walked to the restaurant.  The main street of Hogsmeade was bustling with people as the townsfolk went about their daily business.  For the first few minutes of their time in the town, Harry had a strange feeling that someone was following them, but every time he turned around, nobody was there.  Eventually, as he got caught in the current of activity on the street, he forgot about the strange feeling he had and began to enjoy his time in Hogsmeade.

            After window-shopping at many different stores, including The Brewery, they realized they were standing in front of the window at The Quidditch Post.  Ron and Hermione both sighed because they realized how hard it would be to get Harry away from that window without actually entering the store to buy something.  Luckily, The Quidditch Post was only two stores away from The Great Hall, so they didn't have very far to drag him.  Harry wouldn't have been able to buy anything anyway, because he didn't bring all that much money with him.  So finally, at long last, the little group arrived at the doors of The Great Hall.  The doors were so big that it took all of their strength just to open one door.  The door slammed shut behind them, forcing them to land in a heap on the floor.  When they finally were able to gather themselves together again, they looked up only to see one of their favorite people.


	3. Exploration

Chapter 3 - Exploration

            "SELENA!" the kids all shouted simultaneously.  Why did it seem like everyone loved shouting at her?  Selena left her post at the bar and came over to greet her newest guests.  She had not seen them since her visit to the school, last year.

            "Hi everyone," she greeted them.  "You're here early.  How was your trip?"

            "Well, it was a fine trip until Harry decided to park himself in front of The Quidditch Post window," Ron teased.

            "It's not my fault!" Harry said.  "They had all the newest equipment on display, and I was just trying to see if our Gryffindor team was totally equipped in the best stuff on the market."

            "You know, Ron, he's right about the equipment," Selena said.  "Believe me, I know from experience.  So, now that you're finally here, what do you think of the place?"

            "It looked so much bigger from far away, before I realized it was only one story high," Hermione said.  "But I have to admit, aside from the bar in the middle of the room, Dumbledore was right.  It looks exactly like our dining hall, right down to the enchanted ceiling!"

            "Oh, wow!  Look at that!  It is enchanted!" Ron shouted in excitement.  "This is so cool!"

            Nobody had noticed Harry drop into one of his quiet, thoughtful stares again in all the excitement.  He just kept spinning slowly around, taking in all the sights of his new surroundings.

            Selena broke his concentration, "Harry?  Are you okay?"

            "Yes, Selena, I'm fine," he replied.  He didn't tell anyone that the strange feeling that he was being followed had returned since his entrance into the restaurant.

            "Since you're here, you might want something to eat or drink, right?" Selena asked.  All three quickly nodded in agreement.  "You probably can plainly see, just from looking at the décor, that there are four different seating sections, one for each house.  Usually, the hostess tells you which "houses" have available seating, and you can choose where you want to sit.  My bar in the middle is called "The Pit".  Once you're seated, it's just like a regular restaurant with waitresses, but sometimes, if you're lucky, your food appears right through the tabletop.  We have all the best house-elf chefs in the wizard world."  She stopped abruptly after this statement, having seen Hermione go into some kind of shock.  That is when Selena remembered Hermione's crusade to save Dobby, Winky, and the other house elves at Hogwart's.  "Don't worry Hermione, there really are no house elves.  It's just part of the sales pitch the boss likes us all to use when we have first-time customers."

            "Oh, okay," Hermione said, sounding relieved.  "Since we're here, could we sit in Gryffindor, just like at school?"

            "You mean you don't want to sit anywhere else?  We sit in Gryffindor every day.  Why don't you want to try something different?" Ron asked, seemingly annoyed.

            "It's okay, Ron," Harry tried to calm him down.  "We'll sit in Gryffindor today, and if we come back some other time this weekend, we can sit somewhere else."

            "Fine, fine," Ron sullenly agreed.  "I never get my way anyway."

            Selena acted as hostess for once, and showed her favorite kids to a table.  Ron was happy to see that each table had a chessboard built into it, and storage space on the side of the table for the chessmen.  After they spent a half hour going over the menu, Ron and Hermione played a game of Wizard's Chess and Harry explored the rest of the restaurant while they waited for their food to be served.

            There really wasn't much to explore, because of all the similarities.  Harry wandered around the main room, looking at all the random memorabilia that was hanging on the walls.  He found some quidditch equipment, and stared at it for a while, wondering if his father had ever owned any of the displayed pieces.  Most of the other displayed pieces were not so interesting to look at because Harry saw them every day at school.  While he was on the other side of the restaurant, between the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff sections, he saw the door that led into the kitchen.  He decided to sneak into the room, just to double check for Hermione that Selena was telling the truth about the house elves.  The hallway that led to the door was quite long, and Harry was glad there were no other branches of the path, lest he get lost in the depths of the restaurant.  At long last, Harry arrived at the swinging door into the kitchen.  He didn't want to fall into the kitchen too, so he pushed the door open just enough to be able to see what was going on in the kitchen.

            Surprisingly, he found that Selena was telling the truth.  There were no signs of house elves working anywhere in the restaurant.  Now that the rumor had been quelled, Harry quickly slipped away, back into the main dining area.  He felt like he was being followed again.  It was a feeling he did not like at all.

            Harry returned to his table and his friends to find that their food had been served while he was gone.

            "So, who won the chess game," Harry asked as he bit into his cheeseburger.

            "Who do you think?" Hermione asked.

            "Ron?" Harry guessed.  From the look on Ron's face, Harry could tell he was wrong.  "You won, Hermione?" He guessed again, very surprised at the outcome.  She nodded in approval of his second guess, and Harry turned to Ron to console him.  "Hey man, you're really falling down on your game," he joked.  "We'll have to play more often in case you ever have to save my life again."

            "Ha!  Ha!  Very funny," Ron mused sarcastically.

            "Wait, Ron.  Stop," Harry said, cutting his friend off.  There was a panic stricken look on Harry's face.

            "What's wrong," the other two asked simultaneously.

            "Look.  Just look," Harry said, as he pointed to his plate of food.  All three crowded around Harry's plate to get a glimpse of what he was so shocked at finding.  There, on the napkin, were the words written, "I am watching you."


	4. Mistaken Identity

Chapter 4 – Mistaken Identity

            After seeing that message, Harry wasn't much in the mood for eating anymore.  He ran outside, leaving Ron and Hermione in the lurch.  

            "Sorry, Selena," Hermione shouted as they ran past the pit to catch their friend, "I'm sure we'll be back soon."

            "Oh, it's okay.  I know you'll be back soon," she replied to a breeze that was drifting past.

            They caught Harry outside, as he was racing back to the valley where they hid their brooms.  "What just happened in there?  Are you okay?" Ron asked.

            "There's something strange about that message.  I just want to get out of Hogsmeade to make sure nothing happens to us," Harry explained.  "I want to make sure there are no suspects back at school.  If we come back, it'll be tomorrow; I'm not sleeping here tonight."

They retrieved the brooms out of the tree they hid them in, and proceeded to race back to Hagrid's hut.  Once they had landed and were back at school, Harry was fuming.

"I'm going to give that prick a piece of my mind," he stated.  Ron and Hermione just stood in amazement at Harry's anger, which just seemed to be steadily building.  They were not positive, but had a pretty good idea who he was talking about.

The group returned to Gryffindor's common room, but Harry was unusually impatient that night.  Hermione had settled next to the fire in an armchair with another huge book for "light reading".  Ron had pulled out his chess set, in hopes of trying to figure out how Hermione had beaten him at The Great Hall.  Harry had slipped upstairs, claiming he was tired from the day's adventure.  His friends thought this was strange, but did not give it much thought.

Harry really was not going to bed though; it was only nine o'clock.  He sprinted up the stairs and grabbed the invisibility cloak from under his bed.  Since there were still people in the common room, he had to be careful on his way out.  Fortunately, all the regular pictures that usually stopped Harry for conversation were visiting other pictures somewhere else in the castle.  In no time at all, Harry was hovering around the entrance to the Slytherin common room, waiting to confront Draco.  He only had to wait for a group of second years to speak the password, and he followed them into the slimy Slytherin sitting room.

Draco had his back to Harry upon his entrance to the lair.  Wanting to catch him by surprise, Harry crept right behind Draco's chair.  "Expelliarmus," Harry said, throwing off the hood of the invisibility cloak.  "May I have a word with you outside, Draco?  There's something I need to ask you."

Totally caught off-guard, Draco turned around to face the floating head of Harry.  "I don't see why you would need to talk to me, but why not, it might be humorous," Draco snottily replied.  Unbeknownst to Harry, Draco picked up his wand on his way out of the Slytherin dungeon.

"What do you want with me?" Draco asked.

"Why are you doing this?  Do you find pleasure in tormenting me?"

"Me?  Torment you?  Oh, that's a good one, Potter."

Being sick of Draco's attitude, Harry decided to take action.  "Limbus Excrucio," Harry said, and before his eyes, a thousand little human feet started growing out of Malfoy's scalp.

Draco yelped as the little appendages began protruding through his hair.  "What have you done?" he shouted angrily.

"Don't worry, it's just a simple extra appendage spell."

"What do you mean don't worry?  I have no clue what you're asking me about, I can't answer your questions, and I have a head full of feet.  Tuftus," Draco whispered, pointing his wand at Harry.  Suddenly, Harry found himself covered in full plumage, just like one of the mail owls, minus the beak and talons.  The duel had begun.

"Tarantellegra!" Harry whispered again, stifling a giggle.  Malfoy began dancing in uncontrollable circles around Harry.  As Harry spun around to watch Malfoy's antics, he heard feet rushing down the hall toward where they were standing.

"Stupefy!" a voice boomed as its owner rounded the corner.  Harry was just standing, but Malfoy was frozen in a very strange position because he had started dancing on his head.

"What is going on here," Snape demanded.  "I have never seen such foolery," as he stifled a laugh.  Here were his two favorite students, standing in a hallway, albeit awkwardly, obviously victims of misused magical powers.  Having regained his composure, he began again.  "Can one of you explain what is going on here?"

"I was pulled out of the common room unexpectedly by Mr. Potter, sir," Draco said, trying to sound as innocent as possible.

"And why are you standing on your head, Malfoy?

"It was all Potter's doing, sir," he replied, not caring that Harry was standing frozen only a foot away from him.

Snape turned to Potter and almost laughed again.  He then turned back to Malfoy and asked, "Why does Potter look like an owl?"

"He told me he wanted to do the owl dance.  I don't think he knew what he was talking about."

"I see…" Snape said, pondering what to do next.  "Seventy points from Gryffindor," Draco giggled here, unintentionally.  "And thirty points from Slytherin."

Both boys looked absolutely shocked.  Harry at how many points were taken, and Draco at the fact that points were taken from Slytherin at all, even though none of this mess was his fault.

"I hope you have both learned your lesson," Snape said.  He undid the stupefy spell before walking away, still chuckling from the strange positions he found the boys in.

            "Thanks, Potter," Draco sneered before returning to his common room.

Harry returned into the Gryffindor tower quickly, not wanting to get into any more trouble.  No sooner had he collapsed behind the Fat Lady than he was assaulted by questions and worries from his friends.

"Don't lie," Ron said.  "We knew you were gone the second Seamus came down from the room and said, 'He's gone again!'"

"What on earth do you think you were doing?  Where the heck did you go?" Hermione asked.

"I only went to give Malfoy a piece of my mind.  Unfortunately, we were caught by Snape."

"He obviously didn't undo whatever Malfoy did to you, Harry.  You're still covered in feathers."  Hermione began rifling through the nearest book to find a "defeathering" spell to use on Harry.  Finally, she found one and luckily it worked.

"It isn't Malfoy," Harry said as soon as he was free of feathers.

"Huh?" Ron had a very quizzical look on his face.

"The person, or thing, whatever left that note in the restaurant.  It isn't Malfoy.  He had no clue what I was talking about when I asked him.  I could've done something horrible to him, but Snape caught us and now we're down seventy points," he said sullenly.

"Have you told Dumbledore?  You know he'd look out for you, Harry," Hermione said, sounding almost motherly.

"No, I haven't told him yet.  What could he do besides give me a bunch of bodyguards and house arrest?  I'm going to figure this out on my own."

"How do you plan on doing that?" Hermione queried, hoping against all hope that she and Ron wouldn't be dragged into the mess.

"We're going back to The Great Hall."


	5. Hogsmeade: A Guide

Chapter 5 – Hogsmeade: A Guide

Harry decided to return to The Great Hall on Sunday, for lunch.  He knew it might seem a little bit odd that he was at the restaurant twice in one weekend, but there was no other way to figure the mystery of the napkin note out.  This trip would only be Harry and Ron, since Hermione said she had to do a lot of reading, in order to get ahead in her classes, even though the semester had just started.  Nobody believed her, but they knew she didn't enjoy getting in trouble.

            "You ready to go, Ron?" Harry asked.

            "Yup.  All set.  Let's go!" was the reply.

            Instead of flying this time, the boys decided to take the shuttle bus to Hogsmeade, since it was easier than any other way of getting there although it took the longest time.  An added bonus was that they'd be able to "people watch" on the bus.  They'd play a game where the winner was the person who found the most interesting person on the bus or in a crowd.  There were some interesting people on the bus, but the most interesting person was actually found while the boys were on the way to The Great Hall.

            As the bus was pulling away, the ultimate winner of the people game walked into view.  There was what seemed to be a floating basket moving down the street.  The boys wormed their way closer to the strange thing and found an armless woman walking the same direction they were going.  The street was busy, but they were easily able to keep up with the lady without being seen.  Unfortunately, when they reached the restaurant, the strange lady kept going.  After playing the people game, Harry was in great spirits as the boys entered the restaurant, luckily without letting the door collapse on them.

            They saw Professor Sprout and Madam Hooch sitting in The Pit talking to Selena.  The place wasn't that crowded, but the Gryffindor tables were pretty much full.  When the hostess came to seat the boys, they decided to sit in Hufflepuff.  It would be something different, and they would be able to check for any strange messages, to make sure it wasn't just that Harry had been at the Gryffindor tables that the napkin message had shown up.

            Sunday was karaoke day at The Great Hall.  All day, anyone who wanted to could grab a microphone and sing to their heart's desire.  Unfortunately for the patrons, many people who decided to sing could not carry a tune for their lives.  Ron saw Neville and Seamus head up to sing "Quit Playing Quidditch (With My Heart)".

            He leaned over to Harry and whispered, "Oh boy, this should be good."  Harry swiveled around just as the two had started singing.

            "Wow!  They're really bad.  I think they need some help," Ron said.  Harry snapped back around to open mouth gape at Ron, thinking they both would end up singing with Neville and Seamus.

            "Idolus," Ron whispered, pointing his wand at the microphone.  Instantly, the catty sound coming from the speakers changed to the sound of a famous boy band and almost every girl in the restaurant was swarming around the little stage setup.

            "Wow!" Harry gasped.  "Where did that come from?"

            Ron pointed to the tip of his wand as he developed a silly little grin on his face.  "I decided to help them out a little."

            After the Gryffindor boys had sung, Harry noticed some Slytherin girls getting ready to sing.  Deciding to have some fun himself, he pointed his wand at the little group and said, "Idolus reversus".  When those girls started singing, Harry wasn't sure what was going on.  He knew his spell had made them sound worse than frogs, but he did not expect the melee that followed.  Three of the girls started shrieking and running in circles, trying to get off the stage.  The fourth girl decided to try to keep singing.  Luckily for her, the song was just about over; she was looking around wildly at her friends with a look on her face that clearly was asking, "What is going on here?"

            All the commotion made the entire restaurant burst into laughter.  Seamus and Neville joined Harry and Ron at their Hufflepuff table, where Harry indulged them of the secret spell that had caused all the shrieking girls to run off the stage.  The boys thought it was so humorous that Neville ran over to The Pit to tell Selena about Harry's mystery spell.  As Harry settled back down into his seat, he felt something poke him in the back through the chair.

            Wondering if it was Ron poking or kicking his chair, Harry turned to his friends and said, "Something just poked me in the back," expecting a response from Ron.  After Ron shot a quizzical look to Harry and Seamus shrugged his shoulders, Harry got up to go talk to Selena.  As he pushed in his chair, he noticed a dart piercing a folded paper in the back of his chair.  He pulled the dart out of the chair, kept the folded paper attached to it and brought it to The Pit to investigate.

            "Good trick, Harry," Selena said, congratulating him on his singing spell.

            "Thanks!  Hey, would you have any clue about what this is?"  He pulled the dart and the note out of his robes and placed them on the bar.  "I haven't read the note yet."

            "Someone is watching you.  Maybe even following you," Selena said without even opening the paper.  "I'm not sure it is safe for you here.  It might be better for you to go back to Hogwarts."

            "Thank you, Selena," Harry replied and sullenly returned to Ron at the table.

            "Great, now even Selena is babysitting me," Harry complained.  "She said it's not safe for me here and that I should go back to school."

            "I think everyone's just bloody crazy about all the threats of the Dark Lord returning to power," Ron said in support of his friend.

            "Me too, but there's something I never told you."

            "Oh, really?" Ron looked surprised to hear this.

            "The first time we came here, with Hermione, I had a really strange feeling in the pit of my stomach.  Even before we got into the restaurant, I felt like someone was following us around, trying to watch my every move."

            "Maybe we should go back and tell Hermione.  You know how she is with her research.  Perhaps she could help us."

            Unbeknownst to the boys, Hermione had stayed home for just that reason.  Before the boys had even collapsed in the common room, it was Hermione's turn to attack them.

            "Okay, so I spent the whole day in the library," Hermione began.

            "What else is new?" Ron interrupted with a silly, laughing grin on his face.

            "And look what I found," she ended.  As she spoke, she showed Harry the book she had been poring over.  It was called _A Look Into Hogsmeade: Strange Street Wanderers_.  She gave the book over to the boys, knowing she finally had found something that would interest them.

            It seemed as if Hermione had given them an early Christmas present, they were so excited.  The stairwell up to the dorms rumbled like thunder as they piled up to their room to delve into the pictures in the book, only pausing to thank Hermione before disappearing.  Luckily their room was empty, so they could enjoy the book in peace.

            "Oh look!  There's Ragged Randy!" Ron said, pointing to a picture of some floating shreds of cloth.

            "Yes, and here's Sirius!  Wow, I wouldn't expect to see him in this book."

            Before long, the boys realized it was past their normal time for eating dinner, so Ron packed up his stuff and headed off to dinner ahead of Harry.  Ron always had worried about Harry's safety, but finally realized that Harry was a grown boy now.  He could tell that he would be dining alone that night.  And besides, there was no need for Ron to risk his own life every time Harry went off on an adventure or did something risqué.

            Once there was nobody left in their dorm, Harry grabbed some books, including the Hogsmeade guide, and practically sprinted with them to the library.  The halls were empty, but Harry still hoped that he wouldn't run into any of his favorite teachers roaming the halls.  He gave a sigh of relief as he closed the door of the library behind him.

            Harry had never realized how dark the library was after Madam Pince left for the night.  There were just a few candles scattered randomly throughout the large room, and it was also quite cold since the fireplace had died down.  Harry decided to change the settings, so he could read in a more comfortable scenario.

            "Calefactus!" he said, and the general area around him instantly heated up to a comfortable temperature.

            "Lumos," was his final spoken word as he used his wand to guide him across the pages of his book in the darkened room.

            Suddenly, something creaked in the background.  Harry could hear the silence of something sneaking up behind him.  His whole body tensed, and he stealthily readied his wand, to quell the instinct that something was going to attack first.


	6. Confrontations

Chapter 6 - Confrontations

            "Obliviate!" Harry shouted, spinning around suddenly to point his wand at whoever or whatever had snuck up on him in the darkness.  Hopefully it would work in his favor, keeping him from getting caught.

            After recovering from the shock of being hit, the girl shakily stood up and asked, "What's going on?  Who am I?"

            Harry said the first thing that came to his mind.  "You're a muggle."  That's when he actually looked at her, and saw that she was wearing Hufflepuff robes and had been carrying lots of books, which were now scattered around the floor of the library.

            "A muggle?  What's a muggle?"  Harry now realized that he should not have told her she was a muggle, and had to risk obliviating the girl again in order to fix the problem.

            "Stand still and don't move until I tell you to."

            The confused girl froze, partly in terror of the boy she knew nothing about, and partly in fear of what he might do next.

            "Obliviate!"

            Again the girl reeled from the shock of the spell being cast so close to her body.  "Who am I?  I demand to know!  Stop torturing me like this!"

            Quickly sneaking a glance at a notebook cover, Harry found the girl's name.  "You are Abby Bennington.  You live in Hufflepuff House.  We'll have to get you back there right away."

            "Where are we now?"

            "Well, we are in England, at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."

            "Who are you?  What are you doing?"  This third year, Abby Bennington, was a very curious girl.  She almost reminded Harry of Hermione.

Not wanting to scare Abby even more, he replied, "I am nobody important."

"Your face.  There is something peculiar about your face.  May I look at it?"

"Well," Harry paused, "Only if you don't make fun of me."  He knew she did not know who he was, since he had obliviated her memory twice.  There was no harm in letting her see him, was there?

The girl let out a slight gasp when she saw his face up close.  "You have a scar."

"So?  A lot of people have scars on their faces."

"I suppose you're right," Abby said, sitting down at a table.  Then suddenly, "Harry Potter," she whispered to herself.

"Whom are you talking about?" Harry queried, having overheard her slight noise.

"I dunno," Abby looked down almost ashamedly.  "That name just popped into my head from somewhere."

Harry was quite startled by this statement, so he quickly decided to take action.

"It's late.  You should get back to your Common Room."

"I don't know where it is," Abby said.  "Can you bring me there?"

Not wanting to leave the library, and really not wanting to get caught, Harry sat down across from Abby and started writing down directions for her to follow back to the Hufflepuff dormitory.  He was hoping that the obliviate spells would not have affected her long-term memory for finding her way around the immense castle with the help of the directions.

"Here.  Follow these directions and you will find yourself back at the Hufflepuff Common Room."  Harry rose from the table and began to escort the girl toward the library door.

"You mean you're not coming with me?"

"No.  I can't.  I have too much work to do here," he lied.

"Oh."  Abby looked down at her feet as she shuffled out the door.  "Thank you for helping me, Harry," she quietly said as she left his presence.

Abby tried hard to follow Harry's directions.  She made it about halfway back to Hufflepuff House, but the staircases were not lined up the way Harry had said they would be.  She went the right way, but ended up on the wrong landing of the moving paths.

"What's your problem?  Watch where you're going!" someone shouted as he brushed past her.

"I'm sorry…didn't see you," she replied.

"Yeah I'm sure you didn't.  I haven't seen you before. What's your name?"

"Abby Bennington.  I'm a third year Hufflepuff."

"Hufflepuff? Hah!"

"What's wrong with Hufflepuff?" Abby asked, insulted.

"Sorry bunch that you are.  Full of nobodies."

"What do you mean nobodies?  Cedric Diggory was a Hufflepuff!"

"That whiner?  Hah. Good thing he died. One less of you."

"He wasn't a whiner.... You never told me who you are.  What are you saying?  Who are you?"

"I'm Draco Malfoy, sixth year Slytherin.  I don't even know why I'm wasting my time here. I need to get back to my dorm."

"So what have you done to make an impression on the Hogwarts community?  You don't seem like anyone important.  I need to get back to my dorm too..."

"Lucius Malfoy is my father. He is a very high-ranking employee of the Ministry of Magic.  You don't even have the right to be in my presence."

"I most certainly do!  Where is the sign that says I cannot stand here in this hallway?  And who are you to tell me what I can or cannot do?" Abby asked, getting angry at his pigheadedness.

"Right there," he said, pointing toward the ceiling.

"Where?  I don't see any sign."

Draco then pushes Abby, causing her to stumble forward a few feet.  "Haha, clumsy girl."

"No fair!  You pushed me!"

Finally having enough of this little girl, Draco stepped toward her and knocked all of her books off of the now moving staircase.  "Whoops," he said casually.

"No!" Abby screamed.  "You bastard!"  She was sick of his priggishness, and just wished everything would stop.  She was very tired of being harassed.

"Sorry about that."

"You have ears, don't you?"

"I dare you to say that again." Draco sneered, not expecting Abby to come back at him again.

"You Bastard!  You're the second one tonight who has harassed me."

"Hah!  Harassed?  Was the other one Goyle?"

"No."

"Damn, that fat ass can't do anything right.  Well, lucky for you that he didn't."

"What am I going to do about my books?  I can't get them back."  Abby felt ready to cry at this point, after so much frustration.

"I said 'whoops'."

"That's not going to help anything…"

"Excuse me, I've got to go."

"No.  You're getting my books back for me first."

Draco's nostrils flared like a wild stallion's.  He shot Abby a disgustingly evil glare and pushed past her to continue back to Slytherin House.  Unfortunately, the force of the physical contact caused Abby to lose her balance, and she fell to the floor with a scream.

"Oh, what now?" Draco obviously didn't want to be bothered any more.

Suddenly, a voice rang out from somewhere above them in the castle.  "What is causing all that racket down there?"

At the sound of this voice, Draco took off at a run.  Abby was left in a heap on the cold stone floor.  Hot tears had begun trickling down her face.  She didn't even know why she bothered, but she just sat there, calling, "Help me!  Please somebody help me!" hoping that someone would eventually come to her aid.


	7. Intervention

Chapter 7 – Intervention

            "Oh, dear.  Are you alright, young one?" Professor McGonagall hurried over to Abby, immediately attempting to sort this whole mess out.

            "I…I think so.  Some blond kid just pushed me down and threw all my books down the stairs.  I got lost.  I ended up in the library, and another boy obliviated me, I think.  He then tried to help by giving me directions back to Hufflepuff House, but I took a wrong turn at one of the stairways.  That's when the blond boy pushed me down."

            "You're welcome.  What's your name?  I don't think you ever told me."

            "Abby Bennington, ma'am."

            "Bennington, hmm.  Well, can you describe the boy who pushed you, besides his hair?"

            "The boy told me his name, but I can't remember it.  He was a sixth year Slytherin, I think."

            "Well, I'm not sure who he is yet, but I think I can solve one of your problems.  Accio livres!"  All of Abby's books rose from the depths of the staircases they had fallen down.

            "My books!  Thank you so much!"  She shuffled rapidly through the books to make sure everything was there.  "Good.  Nothing is gone.  Can you do anything about that boy who harassed me?"

            "Well, it would be better if you remembered his name."

            "I think it began with a D.  I'm sorry.  I know I have a bad memory."

            "It's quite alright, at least that's a start.  The boy who obliviated you, who was that?  He might be in some trouble too now for being out of his dorm after hours."

            "Wait, I remember that boy.  He had a scar on his forehead.  His name was Harry Potter."

            "Potter?"  McGonagall audibly sighed.

            "He was just sitting in the library, reading a book.  It was nothing out of the ordinary.  I scared him.  He became defensive when he heard me and used the obliviation spell."

            "There were two students alone in the library?  I wonder what he's up to tonight."

            "He wouldn't show me what he was doing exactly, but it looked like he was just reading a book of some sort."

            "Oh, don't worry about him, Abby.  I'm sure he wasn't breaking any rules.  Tell me about the blond Slytherin.  Draco Malfoy?"

            "Yes!  That's him!" Abby shouted.

            "Wow, this is a very strange scenario.  Potter and Malfoy, you're sure?"

            "Yes ma'am."

            "Thank you Miss Bennington.  I shall have a chat with them both when the morning comes.  Now hurry back to your dorm.  Oh wait, before you go, right now, you are the victim, but you were also breaking the rule of being out after hours.  I will have to assign you two days of detention."

            "Detention?  Are you sure, ma'am?  But I didn't mean to be out this late.  I am lost.  I don't know how to get back to Hufflepuff."

            "Why were you out in the first place?  How long have you been lost?"

            "Honestly, Professor, I cannot remember.  The obliviating spells really did me in for a while."

            "Alright.  Just this once I'll let you off.  Now follow me.  I will help you back to your dormitory."

            After walking for only a few minutes, Abby could not stand the silence anymore.  "Excuse me, Professor?"

            "Yes, Miss Bennington?"

            "What is going to happen to Harry?"

            "I am not sure yet what will happen.  We will have to wait until morning to sort through this mess."

            "Am I going to be in trouble?  I don't care what happens to Draco.  He told off Cedric Diggory." Abby finished speaking softly enough that Professor McGonagall would not hear the last statement.

            "The only way you would get in trouble now is if you were doing something sneaky in the library."

            "I swear I wasn't."

            "Well then, you have nothing to worry about.  Here we are.  Now get to bed.  I am sure Dumbledore will want to speak with you in the morning."

            "Thank you for all your help, Professor McGonagall."

            Since Abby obviously couldn't sneak off anywhere that night, she climbed the stairs to her dormitory and fell asleep, but her dreams kept revolving around the same three people.

            The next morning, even before breakfast, Harry made his way into Dumbledore's office.  He had not gotten much sleep the night before, since he had been pondering why he would have thought to first use the obliviate spell, instead of something like a stun spell.  Well, no harm, no foul.  Abby had recovered well enough to follow his directions back to her dorm, as far as he knew.  As he climbed the spiral stairs to the headmaster's office, he wiped the sleepies out of his eyes and straightened his robes to make himself look more presentable.

            "Good morning Fawkes.  Good morning Professor Dumbledore.  Good Morning Malfoy," Harry said as he entered the room.  "Malfoy?  What is that jerk doing in Dumbledore's office?" he thought to himself.  Harry rubbed his eyes again; just to make sure he wasn't seeing things.

            "What are you doing here?" he asked of Malfoy.

            "Calm down, Mr. Potter," Dumbledore intervened.  "I asked Mr. Malfoy to come to our little meeting this morning.  We have some sort of problem going on here, and it surprisingly seems to involve both of you."

            Draco began to dirty his nose immediately.  "Excuse me, sir.  I did nothing wrong last night.  I was in my Common Room all night, except for when I was at dinner."

            "Well, that's one side of the story out of the way.  Harry, what about you?  What were you up to last night?"

            "I had gone to the library pretty late, to read a book that Hermione had lent me.  There was nobody else around, until that Hufflepuff girl Abby Bennington snuck up on me."

            "So you were alone with her in the library?"

            "Yes, sir.  And yes, I obliviated her.  But only because she startled me and I didn't know what else to do at that particular moment."

            "Thank you for your honesty, Harry," Dumbledore said, giving Draco a stern look of disapproval.  "You may both go now."  The boys were dismissed from the meeting.

            "Excuse me, sir, but why did you call both of us in here this morning?" Harry queried after Draco had left.

            "Professor McGonagall spoke to me very early this morning about Abigail, whom she had found last night sitting near the staircase between Hufflepuff and Slytherin Houses.  She helped Miss Bennington to her feet and led her back to her own Common Room, because the young girl claimed to be lost.  She recounted her tale to your Head of House, and both your name and Mr. Malfoy's name came up in the story she told.  I will be speaking to her shortly."

            Harry began to think very hard again about that night's events.  He needed to tell Hermione what had happened.  Maybe he could meet up with her and Ron at breakfast.

            "Thank you, Professor," Harry said as he slipped out the office door and ran to catch Hermione.


	8. Exposure

Chapter 8 – Exposure

            "So what happened?" Hermione asked, as Harry sat next to her at the Gryffindor table.  "What did Dumbledore say?"

            "Did you get in trouble again?" Ron wondered.

            "Surprisingly, no," Harry began.  "Dumbledore just wanted to get both sides of the story.  Draco immediately began kissing up and Dumbledore cut him off and pretty much ignored everything else he had to say.  After that, I told him what I did, and he didn't seem upset at all.  I was kind of shocked when he just let us both leave."

             "You know this means more time in the library, right?  I mean, there's got to be a reason why Dumbledore didn't give you detention right away for obliviating that girl twice in a row," Hermione stated.

            "Well, technically it was self defense.  I didn't really do anything wrong."

            "That is true," Ron said, jumping in to help defend his friend.

            Harry looked oddly at Ron and snapped, "How would you know?  You weren't there."

            "Please don't start fighting now," Hermione pleaded. "We need to protect Harry from his mystery stalker."

            "Protection?  Hah!  I don't need any protection.  Maybe a good spell to knock him flat on his feet what I see him though," Harry laughed at the thought of his friends "protecting" him.

            "But you remember the events of previous years, right?" Ron asked, trying to regain Harry's support.  "Without us, you never would have succeeded.  We're a team.  We work together."

            "I guess you're right, Ron.  I don't know what got into me before.  We probably should stick together, just like we always have."

            Just then, Hermione realized that they only had three minutes to get to their first classes, so they split up and all ran off in different directions.  Luckily, Harry had to go to a special early morning Quidditch practice.  He would be able to totally relax there and not worry about such things as being stalked and losing friends over silly issues.

            Harry was the first one on the field that morning, although he had arrived only one minute before the practice was scheduled to start.  Instead of unloading all the equipment and getting ready for practice, Harry mounted his Nimbus 2000 and took off, soaring around the sky like an eagle on a lazy summer day.  He was high above the ground when a voice suddenly broke his concentration.

            "Potter!  What are you doing?" Angelina Johnson, the captain of Gryffindor's Quidditch team, shouted up to him as she fervently tried to keep the bludgers under control.  "Come down here and help me!"

            "Sorry," he said as he landed next to his captain.  "The skies were so blue, and I just wanted to take off.  Where are the others?"

            "You know them.  Always late.  They probably forget that our first game is next week against Hufflepuff.  You know they have a whole new team this year.  Their new captain changed around the whole structure of their team."

            Finally, fifteen minutes later, the rest of the team showed up, ready for practice.  Angelina got upset pretty quickly though, because nobody was having a good practice.  The quaffle kept falling through grasping fingers, there were many near misses with some evil bludgers, and even Harry could not keep track of the golden snitch.  Something definitely was not right with the defending Quidditch Cup champion team.

            After the awkward practice had ended, Harry quickly ran back to the dorm to shower and get ready for his first real class of the day, Potions.  Harry actually couldn't wait for Potions today, because he knew something good was going to happen.  He felt it in his gut.

            Miraculously, during the previous week, Harry and Ron had convinced everyone in their Potions class, Gryffindor and Slytherin alike, to help them carry out a crazy plan.  As the students filed silently into the dungeon classroom, they placed their books on the desks as they normally would do and hid themselves in various places around the dimly lit room.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione were all thinking the same thing, "How did we ever manage to pull this off?  Even the Slytherins seemed interested in helping us for once, instead of hating us."

Incredibly, every student had arrived early for class.  The balloons were all in place, hidden under an invisibility spell set by Hermione.  The class waited nervously for Professor Snape, hoping against all hope that he was in a good mood today.  At the stroke of ten, the heavy door slammed open and the pale-faced teacher stalked grimly into his classroom.

Just as Snape was about to open his mouth to begin the day's lecture, Hermione released the balloons, and the whole class jumped out from their hiding spots and shouted, "Happy birthday, Professor Snape!"

"Explain," was the only word that escaped his mouth when it finally opened after balloons had fallen down on him for a few minutes.

"Well, you see, Professor," Ron began, "the last time we were in Hogsmeade, Selena told us that today was your birthday.  So we decided to celebrate with you."

"How sweet, someone actually remembered my birthday," Snape began, almost whimsically.  Then there was a sudden change, back to reality, "Twenty-five points from Slytherin," he grumbled, and then paused to take a breath, "and two hundred fifty points from Gryffindor!"  Snape hated taking points from his own house, but they all seemed so happy about his birthday.  He just had to ruin their fun somehow.

"But professor!  It's not fair!" Harry shouted.  "Selena told us that you always complain about your birthday, so we were trying to give you a birthday not to complain about."

Snape turned to Harry and said, "Life isn't fair, Mr. Potter.  Learn to deal with it."  The angry professor then swept his wand across the whole room, removing all the balloons and decorations.  He continued speaking once the room was back to its normal, bleak state of mind, "I will have to talk to Selena about this conversation you supposedly had with her.  Then I will decide what else needs to be done."

Potions class had returned to its regular dismal atmosphere once again, and Snape continued to load on extra homework that seemed next to impossible to do.  Not only was Professor Snape mad, the whole Slytherin class began to turn even more harshly against their Gryffindor counterparts.  Harry sat at his desk and sighed.

"I should have figured something like this would happen.  Hopefully Selena will be able to convince him that it was all in fun."

"Don't worry about it, Harry," Hermione whispered.  "Don't let this bother you enough to mess up your Quidditch game next week."

"It won't.  I'll be fine."

The whispering was stopped suddenly by a glare from Snape, and the fearless Gryffindor sixth years snapped mechanically back to attention.  Nobody dared move for the duration of the lecture.  The second Snape ended the class, all of the students simultaneously bolted for the door, heading for freedom.

Finally, it was the day of the Quidditch game.  Every student was excited, since this was the first game of the new school year.  Harry flew into the stadium next to Angelina as the teams were announced.  Madam Hooch strode onto the field to start the game.

There was the usual brutality of the sport as the chasers sped around the field dodging ruthless bludgers.  Harry used his usual tactic of hovering high above the other players to avoid intentional injury.  He wasn't quite sure why Hufflepuff's seeker was circling so close to the ground, but he could see that she had no clue where the golden snitch was.  Suddenly, a blur of gold shot past Harry's head, and he took off like a flash to catch the tiny ball.

When he finally landed, Harry waved the golden snitch high above his head in celebration.  Gryffindor had won the game, one hundred eighty to thirty.  Harry was surrounded in a mass of red and gold as his team joined his celebration.  They traveled as a group into the locker room, still on a natural high from playing such a great game.  Because of all of the celebratory comments that were made, Harry was the last player out of the room.  Luckily, Ron and Hermione had not waited for him.

Surprisingly there was somebody waiting for him as he exited the changing area.  Abby Bennington, the third year Hufflepuff, was patiently waiting for her hero, so she could share in the celebration.

"Hello," Harry said, startled to find Abby still hanging around.

She shyly approached him, and began to speak softly, "You played an excellent game today."

"Shouldn't you have been cheering for the other team?  I mean, you are a Hufflepuff, right?"

"Well, yes, I am a Hufflepuff.  But I have a secret, Harry."

"Oh really?" a shocked look came across his face.  He didn't know what kind of secret this little girl could have that also involved him.

"I was the one who left those notes for you at the Great Hall.  I was the one watching you."

Harry looked at the girl like she had seven eyes.  He did not believe anything she was saying, but at least now had some reason to believe the strange feelings he had in Hogsmeade were real.

She continued, "Do you know why I was watching you?"

Harry shook his head, "I really don't know.  Was it because you wanted to stare at my scar like everyone else?"  He was getting annoyed because all he wanted was to relax in his bed and replay the Quidditch match in his head.

"No, it was nothing like that, Harry.  I really admire you.  I want you to know how I feel.  I've watched you for almost two weeks, since the first time I really noticed you.  And now, I finally feel ready to tell you…"


	9. Preparations and Expectations

Chapter 9 – Preparations and Expectations

            Harry took off at a run for the dormitory, knowing the girl would never catch him before he got to the Gryffindor common room.  She was broken off in mid-sentence.  There was no way he was going to hear what she had to say.

            "Harry, wait!" she shouted in desperation.  She received no answer as a blur of robed red and gold sped away in escape.

            Ron was sitting on his bed when Harry entered the room.

            "Great game, Harry!  I think it was one of your best games yet.  You really know how to put on a show out there."  Ron stopped chattering when he saw Harry's face because he could tell something was not right.

            "The girl I obliviated in the library, Abby, waited for me after the game.  I think she was going to tell me she loved me, from the way she was talking, but I didn't want to hear any of it, so I blew her off and sprinted here.  Now all I want to do is sleep."

            Ron began the taunting immediately, "Harry's got a girlfriend!  Harry's got a girlfriend!"  He sounded just like a first year.  "Just wait until Ginny finds out.  Then you'll be in real trouble."

            "That is _so_ childish, Ron.  I mean, come on, who does that now that we're sixth years?"

            Harry wished Ron had not brought up the topic of his sister.  They had dated briefly in the past, but the whole relationship thing had not gone very well, so it fell apart almost as fast as it had come together.  Now Harry and Ginny were just very good friends.  Harry left Ron standing in the common room and headed up to his dormitory to take a nap before dinner.  He hoped against all hope there would be no more surprises for him now.

            Hermione had come back from the library just as Harry disappeared up the stairs.  "What's with him?" she asked Ron, who was still standing dumbfounded in the middle of the room.

            "I'm not sure," Ron replied.  "The girl who found him in the library waited for him after the Quidditch game today.  I think she likes him, but he doesn't like her from what he said he did before."

            "Ooh, I hope he'll be okay.  There has to be some way we can help Abby figure out that he doesn't like her and hopefully we can get her out of his hair."  The little gears in Hermione's head had already started turning, figuring out a brilliant plan to help her best friend.

            The Slytherin dungeons were hissing with excitement about the upcoming weekend event that Dumbledore had just announced that Thursday morning at breakfast.  There was going to be a "Welcome Back to Hogwarts" dance in the great hall on Saturday night.  The dance was going to be a semi-formal, and robes were not necessary, but proper attire was required.

            Draco, Crabbe, and Goyle huddled together in a dark corner, planning different ways to sabotage the dance.

            "We could find some spare potions and spike the punch," Goyle suggested.

            "You dolt," Draco almost shouted, "That's already been done before.  It isn't original."

            "Oh."

            "What if we were to "enhance" the baked goods," Crabbe suggested.

            "That's just as bad as spiking the punch.  It's done too often.  And besides, all the teachers would know exactly who did it, and we'd get caught instantly."

            "Oh.  Okay then, what is the plan?" Crabbe asked.

            "We find a stripping spell that causes skirts and pants to drop to the floor.  Then, when we cast it on unsuspecting people, we make it look like someone else wanted some action in that department, if you know what I mean." He whispered, grinning wildly at his plan.  The other two boys smirked at each other at the thought of half-naked girls in the middle of a crowded room.

            Draco wrote out specific directions on scraps of paper for Crabbe and Goyle to follow.  Hopefully, the fat asses wouldn't screw anything up this time.  Once the group split up, Draco hurried off to his room to figure out what he could wear to the dance.  He also had to figure out whom he was bringing to the dance with him.

            Ever since that night last week, Draco had been very confused.  That girl, what was her name?  Addie?  Well, no matter.  Whatever her name was, she had been permanently etched into his mind.  He had to find her again, but how?  She was a Hufflepuff - a third year even.  They had no classes together, and there was no way for Draco to get into the Hufflepuff common room, since he was not friends with anyone at the school except for other members of Slytherin House.  He just had to hope against all hope that Addie would be at the dance on Saturday.

            Saturday morning, Abby was too excited to sleep.  She couldn't wait for the dance, where she might see Harry again, and she already had her entire outfit, complete with jewelry already picked out.  Her roommate Alex groaned as she chattered wildly at 9:30 in the morning.

            "What on earth are you doing, Abby?" she moaned.  "Do you realize that it is not even ten in the morning yet?"

            "Yes, I perfectly well know what time it is," Abby retorted.  "I was just getting ready for the dance."

            "_The dance?_  Honey, the dance is not until way later tonight.  You have _plenty_ of time to get ready.  Now go back to sleep." Alex rolled over and was asleep again in less than five minutes.

            Abby paused mid-step for a few seconds to ponder what her best friend had said.  Alex was right.  This was silly.  Even though she had just gotten out of the shower and still had soaking wet hair, Abby decided to try to go back to sleep.  She lay down on the bed and attempted to remain still until her unconscious mind had taken control of her body.  Unfortunately, she could not get comfortable at all.  So even though Alex was sleeping, she began babbling again, constantly muttering something about a faulty floo connection in the dorm room.

            Alex had listened to this noise for long enough.  She clumsily sat up in bed, reached for her wand, and said "dormis," pointing her wand directly at Abby.  Even though Alex was half asleep, the magic worked, and Abby remained asleep until Alex woke her up in the middle of the afternoon.

            "Who what now?" Abby started after being poked in the side.  "What time is it," she asked, rubbing her eyes.

            "Three," Alex said nonchalantly.  "You still have plenty of time to get ready.  Don't worry."

            Abby flipped out when she realized how late it was.  She had only five hours until the dance, and needed at least an hour and a half of those hours to do her hair and makeup.  She was also debating whether or not to walk the longer way to the great hall, just to go past the Gryffindor dorm to see if she could intercept Harry on the way.  She was so paranoid about getting ready for the dance that she didn't even realize that she was hungry.

            Alex just smirked a little as she left to room to find something to eat.  Maybe she'd be nice for once and bring something back for Abby, even though she knew Abby probably wouldn't eat it.  Alex had heard all about Harry Potter, and hoped that for just one time Abby would use some of the common sense that she seldomly used.  She didn't want Abby to get hurt in a bad relationship, and she wasn't sure Harry was the girl for her right at the moment.

            Before she knew it, the clock in Abby's dorm chimed 7:30.  Where were all her friends?  They were supposed to be there at 7:30.  She knew it took them a while to get ready, but prayed to Merlin that her friends would be on time for once.  Eventually, the whole group had sauntered into Abby and Alex's room.  Everyone looked so pretty with their makeup on and hair all swept back in lots of curly locks.  All Abby had to do now was get them all out of their dorm and convince them to walk past Gryffindor House on their way to the great hall.

            As they walked through the quickly filling halls and saw more people dressed to the nines, Abby was reminded of a picture of her parents from their youth.  Her mother was well built with a few freckles and auburn hair.  In the picture, she was wearing a red strapless dress with a full, billowy skirt, which looked perfect for dancing.  Her father was a tall man, with light brown hair.  He was wearing a white tuxedo accented by a red tie.  The two were dressed up for his high school prom, and the picture showed the level of excitement the two lovebirds shared.  She knew she wasn't supposed to do magic – she wasn't planning on using any – but she convinced him to hold her wand in an inner pocket of the jacket.  Abby only knew this from the stories her mother told her about the wonderful night.  She drifted back to reality, and realized that she had lost her friends in the crowd.

            Abby found herself standing near the picture of the fat lady that guarded the entrance to Gryffindor.  She looked around hopefully, just wanting to glimpse Harry in the crowd.  The one fear she had was that Harry would not be alone on his way to the dance.  She had heard rumors from various sources about two Gryffindor girls that he might have some sort of interest in but hoped they were not true.  She glanced at the time-keeper she wore around her neck and realized that the dance would be starting in five minutes.  Harry was nowhere to be found; he must have gone earlier with his friends.  Not wanting to be alone on the night of the big dance, Abby ran off toward the great hall to catch up to Alex and the rest of her friends.

            As soon as Abby had entered the room, Draco had spotted her.  Man, that girl really knew how to dress for the occasion.  He definitely wanted to dance with her at some point during the night.  But how would he get to be with her without looking suspicious?

            Abby casually entered the giant room with another group of latecomers so she wouldn't look silly walking in alone.  One fast glance at the dance floor told her that the party had not even really started yet.  She let out a sigh of relief as she quickly spotted her friends, who were gathered around the nearest table of food, and went to join them, preparing herself for some light chastisement.

            "What took you so long," Alex started, "Did you stop to spy on anyone after we lost you in the crowd?"

            "Or maybe you just got lost again like you always do," Sierra chimed in.

            "I did nothing of the sort," Abby replied, knowing that Alex would see right through her lie.  A giggle burst out from across the table.

            "You were _SO_ waiting for Harry Potter, weren't you?  I should have realized that we lost you in the crowd somewhere around that Gryffindor tower," Alex practically shouted in enjoyment of making her friend blush in embarrassment.

            Abby got that silly look on her face again and immediately looked to the floor to hide her blushing.  It seemed like some strange ritualistic behavior she did every time she got caught lying.  "Yes, I was," Abby admitted.  There was really no point in her even trying to lie anymore, since at least one of her friends always saw through it.

            Finally, much to her relief, Dumbledore decided to get the dance floor shaking just as Abby had admitted to her friends what she had done.  She still had not seen Harry at the dance yet, but there was still time.  Nothing really mattered now anyway, since Abby was swept up in a mass of people surging toward the dance floor, ready to party all night long.

            At long last, Draco was able to evade his cronies and escape to a corner to plan the attack on his unsuspecting victim.  He had spotted her as she made her way onto the dance floor with her friends.  She was dancing there still, and this was the perfect time for him to make his move since an announcement was made that one of the upcoming songs was "gentlemen's choice".

            Harry Potter was not much of a dancer, especially at school functions.  Luckily, Cho Chang had caught him on a good night and convinced him to dance with her after only three songs had played.  Hermione cast an approving glance as she and Ron swept past Harry as they danced their seventh or eighth dance together.  Ever since day one, she knew how much Cho meant to Harry, and she was glad to see them having fun together.  The one thing that kept Harry from fully enjoying himself was the little pit in his stomach that brought with it the feeling of surveillance from somewhere in the room, focused right on him.

            After realizing that the "gentlemen's choice" song had a tango beat, Draco snaked his way through the crowd.  He had managed to sneak up behind Abby, and startled her when he tapped her on the shoulder.

            "Dance with me," he practically demanded.

            Abby was shocked by the order, especially when she realized he was the same blond who tormented her in the hallway during the previous week.  As she was dragged onto the dance floor, she wondered what this creep was going to do to her.  A thousand images raced through her mind as Draco led her around the dance floor in a maniacal dance.

            She loved to dance, but this was insane.  She decided to attempt to figure out his motives, without seeming too suspicious.  "Why did you want to dance with me?" Abby looked up at her dance partner to see that he now held a black rose tightly in his mouth and was staring into her eyes.

            "I like you," he answered through his teeth.  "You're very pretty for a mudblood."

            Abby was very frightened.  She didn't want to dance with Draco anymore, but couldn't break away from his strong grip.  Her eyes began to dart rapidly around the room.  Luckily, when Draco threw her back into a dip, her eyes locked with Harry's, and Harry knew that his stalker was in trouble as soon as he saw who she was dancing with.  He needed to help her.  Unfortunately, right at that moment, a pair of ice blue eyes met Harry's.  The showdown was about to begin.


	10. Realizations

Chapter 10 – Realizations

            Abby had to contort her body to stay on her feet as Draco nearly threw her down in a fit of rage.  He had had just about enough of that Gryffindor celebrity ruining his plans.  Something had to be done to stop him once and for all.

            Cowering under the nearest table in fright, Abby quietly summoned her wand to her hiding place.  She knew nobody would notice her, since everyone (including all the professors) was having a jolly good time on the dance floor.  She aimed her wand at the back of Draco's ugly head and decided to give him some help in the style department.

            "Rubio colori," she whispered, and giggled in delight as she watched his hair change from platinum blond to red and gold striped.  If only she had a camera to take a picture of her work.  This would be a very good opportunity for blackmail against the serpent.

            Harry had excused himself from dancing with Cho as soon as he locked eyes with Draco.  The boy looked like a drunken fool as he staggered, full of rage, over to where Harry was standing.  Harry couldn't help but smile as he noticed Draco's new choice of hair color.

            "I saw you looking at her," Draco began.  "I should have dropped her on her head while I had her in that dip."

            "I was merely watching your tango," Harry lied.

            "No you weren't.  You wanted to steal my girlfriend, didn't you?  Don't lie.  I know the truth in your words."

            "I didn't want to _steal_ her, Draco, I just wanted to rescue her from your evil grip.  She looked like a rag doll until you threw her to the ground.  I'll bet you don't even know what her name is."

            "Her name is Addie."

            "You stupid imp, you don't even know her name and you call her your girlfriend?  You're pathetic."

            Abby smiled to herself from her spot under the table as she heard Harry defending her.  She didn't even have a clue that he really didn't feel the same way for her as she did for him.

            After the most recent bout with his archenemy, Harry returned to his table to find Cho sitting with Ron and Hermione.  It was not a surprise to hear them talking, or actually complaining, about their least favorite class – Potions.

            "I mean, just look at him.  He looks so unhappy," Ron was saying as Harry approached the table.  Every head turned to the table on the raised platform, where Professor Snape sat slumped over, his head resting on his long, bony fingers.

            "You know how much he loves school functions though," Cho countered, almost jokingly.  "I'm surprised he's even still sitting here.  Dumbledore usually lets him leave early if he wants to."

            "If he hasn't left by now, he must be here for a reason," Harry entered the conversation.  Hermione showed her agreement with her friend with a confident head nod.  Out of the corner of his eye, Harry noticed Abby emerging from her hiding place and decided to go make sure she wasn't hurt at all.

            "I'll be right back.  I've got to get something to drink," he explained to his friends.

            He wound his way in between the many tables in order to intercept Abby on her pathway back to her friends.  Luckily, his Quidditch reflexes helped him navigate the crowd and he was able to reach her in time, although he scared the crap out of her at first.

            He took her arm from behind, swung her around to face him, and asked, "Are you okay?"

            Abby gasped when she saw whom she was now talking to.  She almost stuttered in nervousness as she replied, "I think I'm fine.  The bottom of my dress got a little dirty though."  She blushed a little bit as she realized this.

            "Don't worry about that," Harry explained.  "Limpio," he said, pointing his wand at Abby's hemline.  The dust seemed to leap off her dress and dissipate into the air.

            "Thank you so much, Harry."

            "Any time," he casually replied.  "If Malfoy ever bothers you again, you can always come find me or my friends.  We will help you.  Don't be afraid."

            As Abby walked away from Harry, she quickly developed a silly little grin on her face and ran off to tell Alex the great news.  Even though Abby herself was not too sure of what the great news was at the moment, she knew exactly how she felt about Harry, and that was all that mattered in that split second of time when he smiled at her.

            "Guess what," Abby stated as she sat down next to her friends.

            "Hell froze over," someone asked at the same time someone else was asking, "Your arch enemy died?"

            "Even better," Abby replied.

            Alex then returned to the table wearing anything but dress clothes – a huge fleece throw-over and sweat pants – and sighed when she saw Abby's expression.

            "Who kissed you," she asked her friend.

            "Nobody yet, but hopefully somebody will soon."  Abby paused for a dramatic effect.  "Harry _smiled_ at me," she said gleefully, waiting in anticipation for the groans she knew would be coming.

            After being defeated by both Abby and Harry, Draco stormed back to the Slytherin dungeons to undo the hair dye spell that had previously been cast on him.  In truth, he had not even noticed the change until Crabbe and Goyle saw him and began laughing their asses off, pointing to his head.  There had to be some way to get back at Potter; Draco just had to think of the best way to embarrass him in front of the entire school.

            He returned to the dance just as a surge of people was rushing the dance floor.  Perfect timing.  He could sneak in unnoticed by anyone.  As he walked, his arm brushed against the black rose he had been holding during the dance.  He stopped in thought for only a moment, then rushed to Abby's empty table and left the rose at her seat with a short note, explaining his motives.

            Abby flopped into her seat, out of breath from so much dancing.  Everybody was still laughing hysterically at the fact that Shawn Mulligan had tried dancing with Professor Sprout.  Abby had spun around in her chair so she could still watch the other people dancing and hopefully catch another glimpse of Harry.  Unfortunately she couldn't watch for very long, because Sierra reached across the table to reach for the rose in front of Abby that nobody had noticed before.

            "Hey Abby, who's been leaving presents for you?"

            "What are you talking about?" Abby asked, turning to face her table.

            "This," Sierra said, waving the rose and the note in front of Abby's face.  "Who left them for you?"

            The young Hufflepuff let out a small gasp when she realized what was being waved in her face.  At the same time she gasped, a scream was heard from the entry hall.  Hermione ran straight to her teachers, panting to catch her breath once she had stopped.

            "Professor McGonagall, come quickly, please," Hermione pleaded.  She looked about ready to burst out crying.  The music came to a halt and there was dead silence in the huge room as Hermione, Ron, and the teaching staff rushed back out to the entry.


	11. Crossing Over

Chapter 11 - Crossing Over

What they found there was earth shattering. In the middle of the quasi-darkened room, there hung from the ceiling what looked like a loosely bound mummy, wrapped in what looked like shredded bed sheets. There were bits of black cloth, presumably robes, sticking out all over the wriggling mass. Hermione stood with Dumbledore as Professors Snape, McGonagall, and Caristak (the new DADA professor) stepped forward to get a better view of the mass.

The professors noticed that the mass was swinging slightly, and was suspended from the ceiling by two support tethers attached to the ceiling and to the chandelier. As they moved forward, closer to the object, one of the tethers snapped and the large mass swung wildly and began spinning jerkily due to the fact that the mass had begun to move, perhaps in an attempt at escape. As Hermione watched from the corner, she thought how much the whole scene reminded her of a muggle magic show.

Hermione began to cry at this point, so Dumbledore placed an arm around her for assurance. She sobbed into the headmaster's robes.

"They just don't get it," she whispered, "This is serious. Why don't they have their wands out?"

Hermione, I'm sure your professors will take care of themselves as well as the school," Dumbledore explained.

Just then, the mass stopped wriggling and hung limply from a single strand, spinning slowly. The mass flickered again, and two small flashes of lush green appeared toward the bottom of the hanging figure.

Hermione saw the flashes and then burst away from Dumbledore in an outrage. She marched right up to McGonagall and shouted.

"That hanging mass above us is Harry! Didn't you see his eyes? He's helpless up there! Haven't you realized that he had been missing from the dance for a long time tonight?"

After alerting the professors, Hermione broke down, crying hysterically. Dumbledore stepped in and took the young lady away so she could calm down.

Once they saw her out, three heads turned upward once again. The grayish figure was still spinning slowly but seemed to be flickering more frequently. McGonagall gasped as she saw the green eyes appear directly over her head. She fainted, but luckily Professor Caristak, a strong, muscular wizard, caught her before she hit the floor. A mediwitch was summoned, and McGonagall was taken to Madam Pomfrey in the infirmary.

Caristak returned to Snape's side and thought aloud, "I wonder who could have done this?"

"There is only one I can think of, and I dare not speak his name," Snape said. "We need to get this body down. There still may be a chance for this boy."

Snape threw a spell onto the tether which slowly lowered the weight toward the ground. As soon as it was close enough, Snape grabbed the green eyed mass and cut the last tether. He was not expecting such weight in the wrapped object and very quickly laid it on the ground. Both he and Caristak stood over the object for only a minute or two before diving into action. Both men descended to the floor and began to unwind the wrapping of the bundle - Caristak from the feet and Snape from the head.

He looked like a father cradling his son. Snape was sitting cross-legged on the floor with Harry's head in his lap. The bindings were gently removed from his mouth and nose. Harry's face had been totally covered, except for his eyes, for such a long time that Snape wasn't sure the Gryffindor would be able to breathe.

As the last wrap was removed from his mouth, Harry opened his eyes. Snape noticed this slight movement, but didn't say anything as he moved to help Caristak free the torso and arms from the mummy-like confinement. Harry tried to pick his head up to watch his teachers work, but his bright green eyes seemed rather dull to Snape when they made eye contact again. Finally, the teacher spoke.

"Relax, Potter. Put your head back down. We'll take care of you, and when you wake up, you'll be in the infirmary with Madam Pomfrey." Snape then gave Harry two potions - one to keep him sedate and another to remove the bluish tinge from his lips. Snape noticed that Harry wasn't breathing as well as he should have been. He removed Harry's cloak and loosened his tie from around his neck before picking him up and running to the infirmary. Caristak tried to follow, but Snape sent him back to find Dumbledore to explain what had happened.

The individual room set up for Harry in the hospital ward was very crowded. There were only three people in there (four if you count Madam Pomfrey), but The Boy Who Lived had so many supporters and fans that the room was overflowing with flowers, gifts, and get well cards.

Dumbledore sat across from Harry's bed while Ron and Hermione napped on a little couch set up just for them in the room. Madam Pomfrey bustled about the infirmary, taking care of daily responsibilities and checking on all the patients. When she was in Harry's cubicle, she accidentally dropped something that made just enough noise to rouse Hermione from her nap. She was a very light sleeper. In order not to disturb Ron, Hermione stayed where she was and pretended to still be asleep, just listening to the noises of the hospital.

Suddenly, a rapid beeping began sounding in Harry's cubicle. Something was going wrong. With that, Hermione leaped up, almost knocking Ron to the floor, and woke Dumbledore, who had dozed off in his chair.

"Professor, wake up! Ron, somebody, go find Madam Pomfrey!" Hermione shouted to wake the sleepy people. She didn't know what was going wrong, but she instinctively knew that it was not anything good.

Madam Pomfrey rushed in and quickly surveyed the monitors around Harry's bed. The beeping that Hermione had heard was the heart monitor. It hadn't been beeping louder, but the frequency of beeps had increased even though Harry seemed to be sleeping peacefully thanks to the number of potions he had been injected with. As soon as the medi-witch had entered the small room, the beeping droned in a constant, blaring tone. Four heads snapped to look at the heart monitor. A flat line passed along the screen. Hermione collapsed into Ron's arms as she fainted in shock. Everyone stood in silence surveying the scene, until Madam Pomfrey spoke softly.

"There was nothing else I could have done. He is gone."


	12. Black Roses

Chapter 12 - Black Roses

            A faint knock sounded against Professor Snape's office door.

            "Enter," was the simple reply.  The teacher sounded depressed, almost wistful, as a timid student entered the dark room.

            "Professor Snape?  I know who killed Harry," a girl's voice sounded.  Abby was not her usual perky self as she spoke to her least favorite teacher.  She should have gone to the Gryffindor Head of House first, but Professor Snape would have direct access to the culprit.

            The black leather chair spun around, and a ghastly white face shot a look of death at the smallish girl who was trying not to cower in the corner.  "You _what_?" Snape queried.

            "I know who killed Harry Potter, sir.  It was Draco Malfoy."

            "And how would you know that, young Hufflepuff?"

            But before Snape had finished asking his question, Abby had fled the dark room in fright, afraid of what Snape might do next.  It was time for Snape to do some questioning of his own.

            Draco sat in a corner of the Slytherin common room alone.  After the night of the dance he hadn't talked to anybody, even the boys he conversed with every day.  He had entered a downward spiral of depression, and he wasn't sure he could control the spinning at all.  Before Draco had a chance to do any harm to himself, he felt a dark shadow fall over his chair.

            "A word, Mr. Malfoy."

            Draco knew he had to listen this time.  Whenever Snape used that tone of voice, Draco knew he was deadly serious.  He silently followed his professor into his office, almost like a well-trained dog follows its master, and stood until Snape demanded his student to sit and explain his actions.

            "What were you thinking, Mr. Malfoy?  Do you know how serious your actions were?"

            Draco started to slightly stammer, but quickly gained his confidence back, feeling certain that he had not caused the death of Harry Potter.

            "Well, uh, you see sir, Potter's death was not entirely my fault."  He knew his first response sounded lame, but it was the first thing he thought of saying.  Draco still could not stop thinking of Abby, and now that Harry was gone, Draco could have her all for himself.

            "Please explain yourself," came the response from the teacher.

            "I was jealous of him, so I had to change things around a little."

            "Well, you do know that many people are jealous of our little celebrity, but there is nothing you can do to change his status in our school.  You know, as well as I, that Potter sits on his own pedestal here, much to our dismay."  Snape added a sneer to this last statement.

            "Well, you see, sir…"

            "It's a girl, isn't it?"

            A small sigh escaped the blond.  How did Snape know he was in love?  "Yes.  But here's the bad thing – She's only a third year, and she's not even a pureblood!  The Malfoy name will be tainted and I don't even care."

            "Are you sure you're really in love, Draco?"  Snape looked at his student pointedly.

            "Yes, I'm sure.  Ever since the day I knocked her over in the stairway I saw something special in her.  I don't know what it is, but whenever I look at her, I want her for myself.  Maybe it's jealousy; maybe it's something else.  I'm so confused by it all.  I don't know what to do!"

            "Well, don't look at me.  What do you expect me to do about your problem, Mr. Malfoy?"

            Unable to get any help from his teacher, Draco stormed out of the office to try to find someone who would listen to him.  He ran down the list in his mind – Crabbe and Goyle?  No, too stupid to understand anything more complex than a lumos spell.  Hermione and Ron?  Why the hell would they want to talk to him?  He had just killed their best friend.  Abby?  He figured that Abby was his best shot, even if she didn't want to talk to him, he could cast a silencing spell and make her listen to all he had to say.  Finally having a plan, Draco took off in hopes of finding Abby.

            He didn't have to look very hard to find her.  She was sitting quietly in a corner of the main foyer, periodically glancing up to the ceiling.

            "Hey!"

            The sudden noise had startled the girl.

            "Oh, it's you.  What do you want with me now?"  Abby mumbled, still feeling depressed.

            "Listen, I don't do this often, but follow me.  I want to talk to you."

            "Why should I?  You're probably going to push me down the stairs or kill me or something."

            "No.  Nothing like that.  Just come with me or I'll have to use a Silencio on you."

            "I'll tell Dumbledore you were threatening me and you'll be in lots of trouble."

            "Bah, that old windbag, I don't care about him.  Look, just follow me or there will be trouble."  Draco proceeded to grab Abby's arm and drag her out of the castle, despite her attempts to free herself, to one of the empty grassy fields surrounding the castle.

            Draco knew that if Abby wasn't convinced by what he was about to say that he would be the newest laughing stock at Hogwart's.  Nevertheless, he began his explanation.

            "I didn't mean to do it."

            "Do what, the great mummy fiasco?"

            Draco was slightly surprised at how bitter she was; almost like him in a strange way.

            "If that's what you wish to call it, yes.  I didn't want to kill Potter.  I just wanted to hurt him somehow."

            "Oh really?  It didn't seem that way as it was happening.  Hermione told me everything."

            "You really believe everything that bushy haired bookworm tells you?"

            "Yes, I do.  She's my friend, unlike you."  Draco jumped a little at this last statement.  "You're nothing more than a bully.  All you do is beat on other people who have something that you want."

            "But I want you, Abby.  I love you.  I wanted Potter out of the picture so I could have you for myself."

            This was obviously the wrong thing for Draco to say, since it caused Abby to burst into tears.  He tried to awkwardly comfort her, but she pushed him away in disgust.  As she turned away to run inside and escape this nightmare, a small spark was seen coming from Dumbledore's office.  All of the property of Hogwart's had turned either a shade of gray or black – the funeral service was about to begin.

            Abby didn't have any time to prepare herself for the service, which was held in the Great Hall.  All of the tables had been cleared, and Harry's serene body had been placed on top of a handsome carved stone table in the middle of the room.  Small groups of students were scattered throughout the room, and the entire faculty sat in a row along the shorter side of the room, close to where Harry's head rested.  Abby was panting as she crept into the almost silent room.  She spotted Ron and Hermione almost immediately and hurried to join them.

            "This is terrible," Abby began.

            "Tell me about it.  I just lost my best friend," Ron mumbled, almost crying again.

            "No, Ron.  That's not what I meant.  Draco just had me outside."

            "What did that creep want with you?  You're too good for him," Hermione said.

            "He told me he loved me.  That's when I ran.  I don't want anything to do with that jerk."

            "Good idea," Ron said.  "He's not worth it.  You've got friends here."

            The room silenced as Dumbledore rose to say a few words.

            "As you all know, our school has suffered a great loss in the past few days.  This is not the place for a lengthy speech of rules and reminders, so I will try to keep it short.  Instead of remembering the shortcomings and constant absence in our lives," he paused to wait for the sniggering Slytherins to silence themselves, "we need to focus on the good memories of Mr. Potter."  Hermione and Ron began weeping together again at the mention of their friend's name.

            Dumbledore continued his speech, "There are too many memories to list them all right now, but just take a moment to remember your favorite thing about our former student, and concentrate on sending it to another person in the room."  He then muttered something under his breath, and slowly, as people thought, the room began filling with smoky images of Harry and various other people in his life.  Abby glanced up as she thought, and was the first student to notice the images.  Quickly the others began noticing the smoky wisps of thought and a hushed whisper filled the room as they reminded each other of the different events in Harry's time at Hogwart's.

            After a short time, Dumbledore stood up, having taken a seat to watch the memories dance across the room.  "Since we will have to send Harry back to Little Whinging, to his aunt and uncle's house, we must say good bye here.  We will form a line for any of those who wish to bid farewell to Mr. Potter.  Those in the back may file forward first, and staff members and those students who wish to remain," he looked at Ron and Hermione, "will be among the last to pay their regards."

            As everybody filed out of the vast room, some of the Gryffindor girls began to weep.  There almost seemed to be a fan club for the fallen legend at the school.  Abby and Hermione followed Ron past the raised dais.  The two girls were the last students to exit the Great Hall.  On their way up to the table, Hermione had transfigured two tissues into roses so the girls could leave Harry something to remember them by.  Eventually, standing in front of her long-time best friend, the stress grew too big for Hermione to handle.  She placed her flower in between Harry's hands, not noticing the black rose that was already there, and ran out of the room.  Professor McGonagall, who had recovered from her fainting spell, accompanied her favorite student out to comfort her.

            After watching her friend leave, Abby turned back to the boy she loved.  Carefully leaning over his body, she put her flower right next to Hermione's, but frightfully noticed the black rose.  She glanced over her shoulder in fear just as Dumbledore was approaching the dais to stand next to her.  He could tell by the expression on her face that she wanted to ask him something.  The wizened professor answered her question without hearing it first.

            "The flower in question was put there by none other than Draco Malfoy.  I suspect that his actions surprised even him.  I'm sure he will come to realize the severity of what he has done."

            He continued after taking a deep breath, "Harry is in a better place now.  Let him go and maybe someday you will be reunited with him again."  The elderly teacher shuffled out of the large room leaving Abby by herself with her friend's body.  All she could do was sit on the edge of the dais and cry.


End file.
